Resurfacing.

I might be wrong.

They had avoided each other since then…well, that was not entirely true, as Seifer was on a SeeD mission and desperately wanted to see Quistis and Quistis was just unsure and perhaps a little apprehensive of seeing Seifer. She had done more thinking, which annoyed her as they all came done to Seifer and what he had said that morning. She hated herself, but she hated him too. It was her fault because she had provoked him to say those things, and it ended up hurting her, so she had brought it on herself really.

She could see how he felt in every word he said, and the emotion shown in his eyes…anger…jealously…sadness…loneliness…she saw it and she could almost relate too. But the way he had mentioned her had really brought it to her. It was her fault he failed, he had more or less said that, but she knew that it wasn't a matter of hate, not even close. It was true, she was more proud of Squall because than Seifer, but only because Squall made it as a SeeD and even became the commander of Garden. But she admired Seifer more for his compassion in his work, and his sheer brilliance. He was a strong fighter and a true man but she never told him. Everyone had said how he would never make SeeD because he never had the will. From his attitude they presumed him to be rather sloppy and brash in battle, but they had never seen him fight…

They were both 17, and she had just got her instructor's license. Her first assignment was to take Seifer for his practical exam in the Esthar plains and acquire a low level earth element GF. She had secretly watched him and was truly fascinated by his grace and determination. He took so much care to refine his techniques that the battle was won with little time and fuss, and without the slop and impulsiveness that everyone thought. She could almost say that he was…perfect?

She breathed heavily and opened her eyes. 'It's time I admitted defeat,' she thought, 'and it's time to be honest for a change. I owe him that much.' She sat up and swung her legs off the bed. Quistis walked over to the mirror and cringed at the bedraggled form of herself looking back at her. She sighed and strolled over to the bathroom where she had a shower.

Emerged clean from the shower, she grabbed a fluffy blue bath towel and wrapped it around herself tightly. She searched her wardrobe for suitable attire for her casual, uninformed meeting with her former student. She wouldn't be working in the day, so she dismissed her stiff SeeD uniform and opted for a simple black knee length skirt, a blue shirt and black knee high boots.

She combed her hair, and blew dried it poker straight, She tied it back into a loose ponytail and applied her glasses before looking in the mirror again. She was reasonably impressed. Her outfit clung to her, emphasising the curves and contours of her slim figure. She smiled weakly back at her reflection and took her dorm keys from the dressing table.

Walking through Garden in public again seemed strange to her, as she only came out in the evenings. She had been offered her old instructor's licence after her and her friends had saved the world from time compression. Surprisingly she had said no. She couldn't teach. She had a lot of things to learn herself. Instead she took the job of being Cid's assistant in the office, so she could be cut off from Garden students all together, and that meant her friends too…yes she missed them a lot...

Suddenly she heard her name being called over the long halls, making many heads turn to see the speaker. "QUISTIS!!!" There was a shrill voice from behind her, and she knew it straight away as being Selphie. The petite girl ran as fast as she could, and flung her arms around her neck, almost knocking the air out of her lungs. "Oh Quisty I've missed you so much!" She said as she clung to her friend. Quistis gently pulled her away so she could actually breath, and smiled. Selphie looked at her, bewildered. "I can't believe you've finally resurfaced."

"Yeah well, someone brought be back to reality." Selphie smiled as if she knew. "Well that's good. Come on, I was just going to meet up with everyone in the cafeteria for breakfast, they'll be so happy to see you!" She nodded, and they both walked to meet them.

When they arrived, Zell had already seen them and was rushing over from his table to greet them. "Quistis, is that you?" Giving her no time to answer, he enclosed her a tight bear hug. "Ha! Long time no see eh?"

"Yes it has been a while."

"Well don't just stand there, come join us for breakfast!" They all walked the short distance to the circular table in a space away from other students. Everyone stood up to hug their friend, who they had missed dearly, and they eventually sat back down in their seats. "So, how has everyone been?" The statement caused uproar, as everyone spoke at once. Quistis raised a hand, and everyone turned to her. "Hey, one at a time. Selphie you first." She took a deep breath and began to speak. "Well, you haven't been here for a while so a lot's happened. I passed my instructor's licence a month back. I teach the junior classmen, which as you probably know is a nightmare but I really love it. Irvine enrolled in SeeD last term. I'm so proud of him." She turned to Irvine and grinned, who was furiously blushing in his seat. "I'm a nurse in the infirmary." Chirped Rinoa. "I started when Nurse Rae left and since then Dr Kadawaki has been teaching me. Squall's still commander aren't you Squall?" The man next to her nodded and smiled which seemed strange to her. "And Zell, what have you been doing?" Said Quistis. "Not much actually. Just helping Edea and Cid rebuild the orphanage."

Quistis smiled. Truthfully, and it had been a long time sine she felt the need to. She had to admit it felt good being with them, despite her doubts of them. "How about you Quistis?" Said Squall. The table went silent. She sighed and prepared to speak. "I've been very selfish haven't I? I cut myself of from the world and I regret that now. I stopped you from seeing me, and stopped myself from letting you know how I was, and I'm sorry for that; it was wrong I know. What I have done has hurt you, and has made my problems and feelings fester. They have got worse and has the time has made it go beyond any help now. You could have helped me if I let you, but I just pushed you away. I'm lucky to have any friends left at all for what I've done…some friend I am." She tried to fight back any tears, and just hung her head looking at her laced hands.

"Please don't feel guilty Quisty. We don't want that, we just want you back as our friend…our sister. We stuck together through some hard times and we are all grateful to you in a lot of ways. Now let us help you in any way we can, ok?" The once emotionless man she thought she was in love with was now almost a different person. Rinoa must have trained him well.

Squall pushed his hand into the middle of the table, and everyone looked at him in puzzlement. "All of us are here now. Let's keep it that way." Everyone nodded in agreement, and then Selphie put her hand in to the middle, followed by Irvine, then Zell and Rinoa. Quistis chucked slightly and joined the pact. She decided that she had friends after all. That's where Seifer was right.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sorry for taking ages…I'm just lazy sometimes, plus I'm in the middle of exams so bear with me! Anyway, I was actually supposed to include the meeting with Seifer in this chapter, but in my opinion it was getting kinda long, and my brother was moaning because I've been on it ages. I've worn out all my bribes. You'll have to wait until next chappy. R+R! Thanx J

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*